


Thunder

by SpassyFly



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-26
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2019-03-09 13:57:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13482912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpassyFly/pseuds/SpassyFly
Summary: It started, as it usually does, with falling. Then everything went haywire from there. But I can tell you with complete certainty that these memories were new. I hadn't made any remotely close to them before. I couldn't tell you why the ones I did have were a confusing mess of same timeframe. It was like I had lived multiple lives before landing in this timeline. Because that made sense.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Just an idea I've had floating in my head since I've read the books. I don't know if someone else has had the same one and I don't have the time to traverse of the fanworks to find out. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy. Take care.
> 
> P.S. I own mothing but the idea, the OC, and the lost sanity trying to make the words go the right way.

It started, as it usually does, with falling. Now what was starting I couldn’t tell you because I couldn’t remember. But I knew this wasn’t the first time I was in this situation.

This was, however, the first time I was above water. And that was worse than above land in my opinion. See, land you make impact and you stop. All your bones are probably broken, if you’re even alive to feel them, but people can find you easily enough. Water doesn’t stop you at all. It may feel like hitting concrete after a certain height and good luck swimming if you have broken limbs. If the sharks don’t get you the suffocation will.

Nothing _felt_ broken but I couldn’t get my limbs to work. It felt like the water itself was actively fighting me. Which made no sense but still seemed acceptable somehow. Whatever life I lived before was fucking _weird._

There were worried sea creatures all around me. They seemed to be wanting to help but couldn’t get close. Because of the angry water currents? Were animals even affected by such things? I was dying and that’s where my brain went. Great.

I felt something hit the water. Then a boy with a bright orange shirt came into view. The creatures made room for him but stayed near like worried hens. He was able to get close as if the water moved to his orders. Which, again, made no sense but still felt acceptable somehow.

My limbs still wouldn’t move so I couldn’t aid him in swimming up. But the boy had no problem, like he was some sort of water god. There was something niggling at my senses, saying I was close but not quite there. The son of one maybe? Was that even possible? Some instinct said it was true and I was starting to doubt my own sanity.

We broke the surface of the water finally and I felt the angry water sort of...fade away. I sucked in a desperate breath of air and immediately started coughing. My limbs finally started to move sluggishly, the water pulling at my clothes. I was wearing a jacket, a trench coat. My legs still felt heavy as hell and peering down I could dimly make out boots.

“Easy there I got you,” the boy soothed. He sounded young but there was a tone that spoke of experience. Weird. Maybe puberty hadn’t kicked in yet.

“Who are you?” I hacked out between coughs. If I squinted I could see the shore in the direction we were headed.

“My name’s Percy.”

“Like the Greek hero?”

“Yah. Can you tell me your name?”

“Aglaea. Like from the Three Graces.” I didn’t know how I knew that but it felt right. Percy was nodding in agreement.

“Your parents like that stuff?” I had a flash of a perpetually drunk mother and a never-around father. So no, it didn’t seem like something I got from them. Slowly I shook my head.

“I never knew them,” I said softly. Wasn’t exactly the truth but the easiest, and safest, way to explain it. Beside me Percy seemed to deflate a little.

“Oh. I’m sorry,” he offered sheepishly. I shrugged and tried moving my legs again. It was like trying to move boulders uphill. At least they responded this time.

There was a small crowd on the beach. Many were sporting the same orange shirt Percy had. I frowned at it as my feet made contact with the ground. My first few steps were a fumbling mess but soon everything worked as it should.

“This like a summer camp or something?” I asked lowly. They boy hesitated before nodding slowly.

“Camp Half-Blood,” he offered carefully. My frown deepened.

“It sounds familiar but I can’t place why.”

“We might have something that can help with that.”

“Worth a shot at least.” The water was ankle high now. Percy was completely dry and I stared at him. I felt like a drowned rat. He grinned apologetically at me.

“I’m the son of Poseidon?”

“Are you asking or telling?”

“You’re awfully calm about this.” I sighed and shoved my hands into my coat pockets. A few people were starting to come over.

“It doesn’t make any sense but if feels right,” I explained with a shrug. Percy gave me an odd look as the first person reached us.

It was a beefy girl with a scowl on her face. She had a weapon in her hands, some kind of sword. Something felt off, like I was missing something. I wasn’t armed but I should be. I should have been.

“Who are you?” she demanded, coming to a stop a few feet away. I tilted my head and remained silent. Percy seemed nervous beside me.

Two more people walked up. One was a blonde with sharp gray eyes. She studied me with a suspicious look. Not outright hostile which made me more nervous. The second made me blink and look again.

"You’re a centaur,” I blurted out. The man offered me a pained smile.

“Yes child. I am Chiron,” he confirmed. I felt a flash of...annoyance. Like someone had twisted my view of him and I was trying to see the truth.

“The Immortal Teacher.” Wrong thing to say apparently. The small group tensed and stared. I got the creeping feeling like I wasn’t supposed to be here. Like this wasn’t where I was supposed to end up after...whatever happened. It was all so confusing.

“Who are you?” the blonde asked. Despite my nerves I stood straight and calm, like I owned the very ground I stood on.

“Aglaea,” I answered, feeling like there was more. Not a last name, a title. Some kind of term of power.

“Got a last name?” the beefy girl grunted. I frowned.

“If I do it’s not one I remember.”

“Let’s take her to the Big House,” Chiron suggested. He turned to the blonde. “Annabeth could you find Thalia and bring her as well?”

“Sure.”

“Percy go find one of the healers please. Clarise you may return to your siblings.” Looking very put off the girl left. That left me and the immortal centaur. He gave me a critical look.

“I can walk,” I offered, watching the crowd slowly disperse. Chiron nodded and started heading further inland. It was bright, I realized, too bright. I squinted and felt around my pockets. Wasn’t sure what I was looking for but logically a pair of damn sunglasses.

The camp was interesting in an abstract way. Like I seen it once in a different state. Burning and broken, destruction that rained from above. It was something that should make me uncomfortable but I wasn’t. I was bored with the image in my head and amused by the one in front of my eyes.

The Big House was a farmhouse. There was no one around us as far as I could tell. I still felt like a drowned rat and the salt was starting to sting my eyes. Chiron offered me a small smile when I rubbed at them.

“There’s a bathroom inside on the left,” he informed me. I nodded and headed inside.

Somehow, I was shocked by my own appearance. I jerked back from the mirror, pupils widening slightly in alarm. After a few moments I calmed down. And then I stared.

My eyes were a vivid blue, the shade of blue usually associated with electricity. But there was no visible white that I could find, just all color with slits for pupils. Not cat-like either. More...reptile I would say. Like some kind of medieval dragon. That detail felt important somehow.

Faint lines that only came out with the right angle of light dotted my skin. They looked suspiciously like scales. I poked my face but it didn’t feel any different. Maybe a tad too cold but I blamed that on the ocean. Still hadn’t tried to wash away the salt. My hair was a hopeless mess to try to clean in a bathroom sink. Jet black it reached just about mid-back and had been wrangled into a braid. There was a faded ribbon the same color as my eyes woven into it. A piece of twine kept it from unravelling with was odd.

Shaking my head I set about splashing water into my face to clear the salt. My hands were shaking slightly and hunger gnawed at my stomach. When was the last time I had a decent meal? The answer was a murky mess of something big. Too big and too fast paced to focus on something like food. A granola bar here, a handful of trail mix there. It was alway on the move, fighting a near impossible war.

Disturbed my own thoughts and vague feelings I headed back outside. I heard voices long before I reached the door. They were hushed, a bit urgent and a bit confused. One almost sounded like mine but at a louder volume than I would speak outside of battle. My voice had only just gone about a whisper when I blurted that Chiron was a centaur.

Steeling myself I pushed open the door. The gathered group turned to me, falling silent. And for the third time that day I stared.

Staring right back at me was a girl would could easily pass as my twin. She was more human looking I decided, with normal eyes and a stunned expression to match how I felt. Her hair was cut short and spiked and she had a general punk aura. Oddly she smelled like a pine tree but it was real. Mixed into the natural scent of humans but not attempting to cover it up. I decided to not bring it up.

“Thalia this is Aglaea,” Chiron broke the thick silence. “Percy pulled her from the ocean just a while ago.”

“If there’s another girl around who looks like some version of the two of us named Euphrosyne I’m going back in and drowning myself,” I declared quietly. Annabeth and Chiron seemed to be the only ones who got my reference. Neither seemed amused. The centaur even seemed disappointed.

“Are you a daughter of Zeus?” my maybe twin blurted. She blinked in surprise but seemed resolved to get an answer.

Except I didn’t know how to respond. The question sparked a rather surprising amount of anger that rolled through my body. I was so much more than my parentage, more than some god’s kid. There was a power in my that was unspeakable levels, on par with a god’s if I so wished. How dare someone think I was just some abandoned child of a god who never-

“I have no idea,” I said, cutting off my own thoughts. They scared me. Whatever I had done before there was something it had lacked. And those thoughts felt tied to it in a damaging way.

“Maybe this could help,” the unidentified boy said, offering a square of...something. It kind of looked like tofu. I narrowed my eyes at it.

“What is it?” Everyone looked a little surprised.

“Ambrosia.” I sucked in a startled breath as imagine flashed in my head. Pain, tremendous pain, but not my own. We were watching a boy convulse, not knowing what to do. Ambrosia and nectar had only made things much worse. And then a booming voice, laughing at our horror.

“Keep it away from me,” I demanded, voice cracking a little. “I don’t....I can’t....just keep it away from me.” I hunched my shoulders and glared warily at it.

“Okay?” the boy said, slowly pulling the offering away. An uncomfortable silence filled the air and I had no intentions of breaking it.

“So do we put her in Cabin 11 or…” Percy trailed off as something flickered above my head. It was powerful but only in appearance. Like some kind of claim.

“Well that answers that question,” Chiron mumbled and I sighed. Despite my feelings, my vague thoughts, Zeus had claimed me. Thalia was eyeing me oddly. “Would you mind showing her around Thalia?”

“Yah sure,” she muttered, turning slowly to the steps. I was half expecting someone to follow but they didn’t. Shoving my hands into my pockets I walked after my, at the very least, half-sister.

Thalia was quiet and led me to the cabins right away. She led me into the one that hummed with power and set my teeth on edge. It was a stronger presentation of the mark from just moments ago. Zeus’ cabin then, at the head like a king.

“We look like twins,” she started right away.

“We do but we wouldn’t be mistaken for the other,” I agreed, studying the inside. There were no beds. A sleeping bag was shoved into a corner, as best one could get from the gaze of the imposing statue in the center.

“People will think we’re twins.”

“And you care? We know the truth. What do the others matter?”

“But do we know the truth?” I turned and looked at Thalia.

She was scared, I realized, scared and confused. Something had happened to her that I couldn’t even begin to know. It seemed drastically off from a certainty that I felt in my bones. There was a major change in how the game was set-up. But what game?

“No,” I finally answered slowly, “I suppose we don’t. But is there any harm in letting people think that?” Thalia made a face and shifted awkwardly on her feet.

“We’d be almost adults by now,” she muttered. I cranked an eyebrow. Thalia didn’t look any older than 16 and that was stretching it.

“We’re daughters of the King of Gods. Such kind of magic shenanigans is expected and honestly? It _should_ be expected.” My maybe twin cracked a small smile.

“Everyone knows my story. Do you want to tell yours?”

“I don’t even know mine. If anyone asks I’ll just stare at them and say something about being a level 3 friend to unlock my tragic backstory.” Slowly Thalia nodded in agreement even if she did look confused. Even I was confused. It felt like I was quoting someone else, someone who got the reference much better than me. Someone who was gone.

“That works I guess. Come on then I’ll show you the camp.” I dipped my head and followed. This was new I realized. New and warm. I liked it.       


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So usually I hand write first and then type it up. Partly why it takes so long for me to update. Anyway, enjoy and hope you all have a nice day.

It had been almost a week since Percy dragged me out of the ocean. The camp had accepted me well enough, some more than others. Thalia and I were slowly working out the whole being daughters of Zeus who looked eerily alike thing. And I was still getting random flashes of vague feelings and broken memories.

It had also been a week since I fucking slept. The statue of Zeus just kept glaring, racking my nerves greatly. As a statue it shouldn’t feel like it was watching the area. But it was and it made it impossible to sleep.

Thalia seemed to be affected as well but not to the same extent. It took her a while to fall asleep despite the activity we did during the day. I wasn’t sure if it was my presence, the damn statue, or the ominous thunder that kept rolling. Whoever built this cabin obviously didn’t think Zeus would have kids. Fools.

So far no one had made any comments on my sleeping habits. That could have been the fact I was wearing sunglasses now. The Mist didn't cover my eyes and it got annoying being stared at. No one knew why the Mist wouldn’t work and I offered no help. How could I explain why it felt like my eyes couldn’t be hidden because humans  _ wanted  _ to see them? Like there was some aspect to me, to my power, that every person wanted to see subconsciously.

Somewhere in the darkness Thalia twitched and mumbled. Nightmares. She actually got them fairly often but never really woke up. I hadn’t found a way to ask yet. It didn’t seem like something I could. We were still trying to figure out how to exist together. And soon enough she’d be off to school, away from camp. It had been decided that since I couldn't use the Mist and most of my memories were gone I’d stay at the camp.

There was a thud and a startled gasp of pain. I glanced over, my sister’s dark shape curled protectively around her knee. We had agreed to use the term since it was true in an odd way. Shaking my head I turned my eyes back to the statue. If I was going to be kept awake by an inanimate object I was damn well going to glare at it.

“You're eyes glow,” Thalia blurted a few moments later. I looked over to find her watching me.

“They glow?” I echoed. I saw her nod.

“Yay. Like an animal’s.” My gaze turned back to the damn statue.

“Good to know I guess.” She hesitated on something.

“Have you slept at all?” the other girl asked. I frowned at the question.

“How do you mean?”

“Did I wake you up or were you already awake?”

“Oh. No I was still awake. The stupid statue makes it hard.” I gestured in the direction, just refraining from flipping it off.

“I get that,” Thalia chuckled. I hummed faintly, glaring at the stone. I could feel my sister watching me too but there was something...warmer about it.

The feeling made me pause. It wasn't something too easily familiar, even with my mess of memories. Maybe buried deep because I did recognize it. It was tied to a strange sense of...weakness. No, mortality. The ability to die.

“Have you slept at all since coming here?” Thalia asked quietly, breaking my thoughts. I was honestly glad she did. My stomach churned uneasily with the feeling of weakness. The boy who died from ambrosia flashed across my eyes.

“No,” I whispered into the darkness. “The statue creeps me out too much.”

“But it’s been a week!”

“I’ve gone longer.” I blinked at my own certainty and shivered. It was tinged with blood and death, the chaos of war. Whatever life I lived before hadn’t been an easy one.

“Maybe we can shove some of the smaller statues out of the way,” Thalia suggested, sounding like she was refraining from berating me. I glanced over to see her making a face. “I tried my first night here but they’re heavy. But between the two of us…”

“It might be done,” I finished thoughtfully. Thalia nodded, shifting to look at one of the things. It did seem possible actually. And maybe with a little bit of air manipulation…

I was thrown off by my own thoughts again. A boy, different from the ambrosia incident, came to mind. He was confident and sure, leading a small group of people. They all wore purple shirts which felt important somehow. With a fierce expression and words I couldn’t hear, the blonde boy launched himself at me with air manipulation. The power behind it was similar to that imbued in the cabin but different somehow. More structured.

I decided against mentioning the air manipulation. I didn’t want to explain the boy. And the purple shirt detail bothered me. There was something larger at play, another piece of the puzzle. Something that we usually forgot and it always cost us dearly.

Who 'we’ was I wasn’t sure either. But I could say with confidence that it wasn't any of the campers. They lacked...anger. Anger at their godly parents and at their situation. There was always that choking resentment when I thought of the group.

“You know,” I started softly. It was only the stillness of the air that allowed me to be heard. “With how confusing my memories are I’m almost afraid to sleep.”

“But sleeping might bring them more into focus,” Thalia pointed out mildly.

“True. Doesn’t mean I have to like the idea.” I heard her shift and felt her gaze on me once more.

“You don’t have any happy memories?” Thalia asked quietly. I frowned.

“None that come to mind,” I sighed. “What I have now is a confusing mess of memories overlapping each other. Like I’ve seen the same thing played out different ways.”

“But nothing like this.”

“This is entirely new.” We fell silent again as Thalia mulled over that. I let her because it gave me time to think of my feelings.

There were happy memories. They were buried deep and tied to sense of mortality I occasionally got. The group felt like the oldest memories I had and I wasn’t sure they repeated. Whatever had happened in them  _ caused  _ the change I think. It was directly linked to the repeats and why I had a simmering anger for the gods.

“What will you do when you get your memories back?”

“I haven't the faintest idea.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Google is my proof-reader :P

In an odd sense it made perfect sense why we often got mistaken for twins. We both had jet black hair and electric blue eyes. Thalia was a bit taller than me when she didn’t slouch. And we both had a flair for dramatics even if she wouldn’t admit it.

Like right now I was casually relaxing next to a baby dragon. Who was guarding the Golden Fleece. No one else could even get  _ close  _ except Thalia. And that was after I told the dragon that this was her tree. Chiron and Mr. D had to stand a safe distance away away to feed the beast. 

The strangest part? I could talk to the dragon in plain ass English and he would understand me. He could speak to me in the dragon tongue, which wasn’t exactly a spoken language, and I would understand him perfectly. No one else, not even Thalia, could do that. Mr. D always gave me the side-eye for it. 

Today, Xargo as he called himself, was making fun of my shirt. Barring what I had on when Percy pulled me out of the ocean I had nothing. So I had to use what was in the camp store. The orange shirt was included and I hated it.

“Orange is not your color Aglaea,” Xargo chuckled. I scowled at my friend.

“They won’t let me out. Too many monsters apparently.”

“You can fight monsters.”

“With the right weapons sure. All there is in the armory is swords. I can’t fight with swords.” Clarisse had taken great pleasure  in soundly beating my ass. I swear she had gotten the heaviest and most awkward blade in there for me. 

“Eat them,” the dragon stated firmly. I laughed and settled more into the ground. Dragons were oddly familiar and...safe to me. Most people saw a giant ass monster wanting to roast their face. Somehow I saw a majestic creature that was, at times, like a fucking house cat.

Soon enough Thalia and Annabeth would be headed into the city for school. Close to the camp for obvious reasons but it was a boarding school. Chiron had taught my sister to use the Mist but even she couldn’t cover my eyes. I couldn’t even use the damn power. I knew, with a certainty I couldn’t explain, that I could pass as an adult. But my education was only to the third grade legally. Without the Mist there was no way I could go to school to bump that up.

“You are sad. Why?” I glanced over at Xargo. His head was tilted and I saw concern in those golden eyes that, while a dragon’s eye, wasn’t the same medieval kind as mine.

“Thalia is going to school soon. I didn’t realize it but I’m going to miss her,” I admitted softly.

“She will not visit?”

“I mean yah probably but it’s not going to be the same.”

“I could keep her from leaving the camp?” He sounded a might bit hopeful.

“No that’s not necessary. I won’t take that away from her.”

“You are very strange Aglaea.” I chuckled dryly. He wasn’t wrong.

Off in the distance I could see campers heading to the beach. They were fully armed and armoured with I thought odd. Percy could easily drown any monster that washed ashore. Could they come ashore? How far did the camp’s magical border extend exactly?

Now greatly curious I rolled to my feet and started jogging. The closer I got, and the more armed camper that gather there, the more a sickening sense of urgency settled in my gut. It nudged my feet faster,  _ faster _ across the grounds until I felt like I was flying. A strange but familiar power was surging through my body. It felt similar to adrenaline but much more potent.

That was probably why campers turned and stared as I got there. They parted with whispered murmurs, eyes shifting between me and whatever dragged them down here. I was breathing heavily but not from exertion. No it was more along the kind of breathing a massive beast does because of their size.  

“What,” I started and my voice rumbled with power, “is going on?”

“Dragon,” Thalia answered as I stepped to her side. Her shield was out, projecting its own powerful aura. And beyond that I could see the issue. 

The dragon was right out of a fairytale. A decent sized creature, about the size of a very large dog, it easily warranted the numbers. But it didn’t seem aggressive. The camper would likely be dead or dying by now. It, she, was protective of something. And I  _ knew  _ this dragon.

“Ceso,” I called softly, stepping past Thalia. I could feel the stares. “Ceso sweetheart. Hey it’s me Aglaea.”

The dragon cocked her head and tested the air. I didn’t look like myself I knew, stupid orange shirt. But the power coiling in my body was still my own and  _ nothing  _ was going to change that.

“Aglaea,” Ceso rumbled. It was both a question and a statement. She could smell me but I didn’t look like me. Illusions weren’t out of the realm of possibilities. 

“Yes Ceso.”

“You do not look like her.” I smiled slightly.

“You’re guarding my bag,” I pointed out. It looked like a simple black backpack but it was magic. A gift but from who I couldn’t remember. Not Zeus, the power was different. I didn’t have any magical items from him.

Ceso huffed and tossed her head but didn’t come any closer. I heard nervous whispers behind me and frowned. How could I get them to leave? Nevermind that, how was I going to convince Chiron and Mr. D to let Ceso stay? Well with her around I could probably survive the wilds I didn’t have to stay at the camp.

I turned around, the power from before rising again. It worked like instinct. I knew how to use but I didn’t know how I knew that. Sort of like a demi-god’s battle instinct. Hard to explain but easy to use.

“It’s fine,” I told the crowd. “Ceso won’t harm anyone.” 

“How do you know?” a voice asked. I cranked an eyebrow in the general direction.

“She’s my friend.”

“Your...friend,” Thalia echoed. But she was relaxing, trusting my word. It filled me with a sense I couldn’t easily identify.

“Yes.” The older girl sighed and shook her head. Thalia was  _ always  _ the older one I determined. I hadn’t shared it with anyone but I remembered her in different ways. And none of them were like this kick-ass punk I shared a cabin with. I like this version of my sister.

“If you say so,” she muttered, retracting her shield. I noticed that most of the crowd relaxed significantly with its disappearance. Some even lost interest and started walking away. Others still watched, glancing between Thalia and I. There was a reason the stories had one child of Zeus. The conflict of leadership was usually too great.

Ignoring the crowd I turned back to Ceso. She too relaxed, not by much but enough. I walked over and scooped up my bag, flopping down to my friend. Ceso curled protectively around me as I examined the simple item. I could recognize the power as a god’s but which was difficult. Maybe strolling by the cabins later would help, if one of the twelve gave it to me.

“Why here?” Ceso asked, eyeing some of the campers still lingering. None of them would even understand her. She was talking in a different language than Xargo I realized absently. And I had been understanding it, even speaking it to her. Huh, weird. The bag was more interesting right now though.

“Percy pulled me out of the ocean. So far they’ve been nice.” The first thing I pulled out was a set of boot knives. My reserve weapons. They brought a whole new set of memories but these didn’t repeat either. A training of some kind and most definitely not here at the camp. I tucked them away and didn’t mention the memories. 

Ceso tensed as Thalia moved closer. Chiron had joined her, big surprise. I cast a half-hearted glance around for Annabeth, Percy, and Grover. The Three Musketeers as I liked to call them. It was a little surprising that I didn’t see them but I ignored it. My attention was more on my bag.

Stuffed further in was all my clothes. From the looks of it my style was a copy of the tough guy spies. Long coats, sunglasses, and a glare so strong it could kill. I had some more color though but it had to be the right angle. It went with the dramatic flair I think. Nothing screamed badass like wearing sunglasses and a trench coat with a dragon at your side. 

In another pouch was a book. It too was magical, one I recognized this time. Athena. But I had no memories of the goddess aside from her curious, but disapproving, face rapidly fading from view as I fell. Down, down, forever down until…

It was the ocean this time I realized. Most times it was the ground, right by the edge of a cliff. A few times it was on a boat that stank of monsters. And the memories that followed, while starting different, were all the same in the most basic sense. Would these memories eventually end with the same dropping sensation they started with. Would they ever repeat?

I tried opening the book but wasn’t overly surprised when I couldn’t. Likely only Athena could or I was missing some kind of key. It was pretty normal like some kind of journal. Maybe that’s what it was. Maybe it was enchanted to track my movements and when judgement day came I couldn’t lie.

“You’re sure it-”

“She and I’m sure,” I cut in. I glared briefly over the top of my glasses at Chiron. It was something I found myself doing often, treating the centaur like an equal. I didn’t know why.

“You called her Ceso,” Thalia proposed, trying to break the tension. I nodded as I dug around more in the pack. 

“Thalia, Ceso. Ceso, Thalia.” My hand closed around something cool metal. 

“Hello little mortal,” my dragon rumbled in English, earning a surprised yelp from my sister. Even Chiron seemed surprised but that might have been because I laughed. Not a chuckle but a honest-to-gods laugh. It was the loudest noise that had ever come out of my mouth.

“Uh hi,” Thalia greeted after a moment. I tugged out the item and felt a wild grin spread across my face. 

It was a set of gauntlets that was imbued with magic.  _ My  _ magic, like the power from earlier. They were my primary weapon and when I slipped them on the memories that came to mind explained why I had so much trouble with swords. Due to the magic they weren’t always visible but I fought primarily with  _ claws.  _

I flexed and the pointed metal slide out of hiding. Still grinning I rolled to my feet, feeding the motion into the start of a dance I knew well. The bob and weave of instinct born from long hours of training. I was dimly aware of Thalia and Chiron watching me but I could care less. My gauntlets were another piece of the puzzle true, but now I had a way to  _ fight _ . And I fought viciously if the way my body moved was any indication.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you grin like that,” Thalia mumbled. I flushed but it didn’t break my smile. Humming I flexed my wrist and the claws retracted smoothly. All these little details were starting to paint a picture. Someway, somehow, I was tied to dragons. 

“I have to agree,” Ceso mused which was a bit surprising. She knew me the most, a constant presence as far back as I could remember. Or rather, as many lives I could remember.

“Well this is a unique situation,” Chiron stated with a frown. Thalia rolled her eyes, catching my gaze. We shared a look and I smirked.

“We’re children of Zeus. Are you honestly surprised by such theatrics?” I pointed out innocently. Ceso snorted and nudged me, mumbling about my dramatic battle entrances. I had a vague idea what she was talking about.

“An easy relationship with a dragon goes above that I think.” I shrugged.

“Still, she stays. Or I leave the camp for the wilds.”

“Are you crazy?!” Thalia blurted, genuine concern and panic in her voice. I started at her. “You’ll die on your own!”

“I have Ceso.” My friend huffed out a small bit of smoke. Show off.

Apparently having a dragon companion was an argument my sister couldn’t fight. She still looked highly put off, scowling with her arms crossed. Chiron was quiet, contemplating something. I don’t think he like my ultimatum either though.

“You might be safe from monsters,” he started slowly. He was about to reveal something big. “But not from Kronos.”

“Kronos. The Titan,” I echoed blankly. Both nodded and I made a face. “What does Gramps have anything to do with my coming or going?”

“Gramps?” Thalia croaked after a beat of silence. I nodded.

“He’s Zeus’ dad ain’t he?”

“That’s too weird.”

“There is a prophecy,” Chiron interrupted with a sigh. I straightened, curiosity piqued. This was the first I had heard of any prophecy. “Come. I’ll explain at the Big House. Thalia if you could find Percy? I feel I should have this discussion with all of you.” My sister nodded and hurried off. I got a sinking feeling in my gut.

“All three of us are children of the Big Three,” I mused. Ceso huffed in irritation as Chiron nodded.

“I have heard no such prophecy,” she muttered, shrinking to a  _ much  _ smaller size and perching on my shoulder. With her weight there something calmed within me so much that I didn’t even question the ability.

“Then let’s hear it and figure out the rest,” I suggested. She wasn’t happy but Ceso agreed. I followed Chiron to the Big House, trying to guess at the prophecy. Another piece of the puzzle.


End file.
